I Wish My Husband’s Daughter Wanted to Live with Her Step-Mum.

I wish my husbands daughter would want to live with her grandmother.
When I married João, I knew he had a child from his first marriage. Carla, his ex, abandoned the girl six years agopacked her bags and fled to France with a new boyfriend, starting over from scratch. Since then she has had two more children, remembers her eldest daughter only twice a month via video call, and sends gifts only on birthdays. I see how the girl longs for her mother, staring at her phone hoping to hear, Come live with me. Yet she never called, never visited. She simply erased her daughter from her life.
At first the little one lived with Joãos mother, the grandmother. But the grandmother grew tired quickly; she couldnt handle the tantrums, school problems, and drama. She gave the granddaughter back to the father. João brought her home, looked at me and whispered, Inês will stay with us. Forever.
I tried to be a good stepmother, I swear. I bought her clothes, cooked her favorite meals, picked her up from school, tried to chat. I wanted to be her friend. Instead she shut herself off, erected a wall between us and never tried to get close. She not only ignores me, she makes a point of showing that, in her world, she has no interest in me.
Three years have passed. Inês is now twelve and still lives with us, acting as if the house belongs to her, not to us. Every night she complains to her father: Aunt Barbara forced me to tidy my room, Aunt Barbara didnt buy me what I wanted. Later my motherinlaw calls to criticize, saying I dont give enough attention and that since Im pregnant, I should learn to be a mother. Yet she herself never cares for the granddaughter, not even for an hour when I need to rush to the doctor or work.
Its wearing me out. I work, keep the house, cook dinner, and now Im pregnant. João, without taking the daughters side, asks me to be more patient. I cant any longer. Inês has become a source of stresscareless, rude, ungrateful, never listening, always dissatisfied. Shes not mine, and I no longer hide that from myself.
Sometimes, standing in the kitchen at night, I think, If I had refused to let her come here If I had insisted But its too late. I cant abandon my husbandwere going to have a child together. And, selfish as it sounds, I increasingly hope his daughter will want to return to her grandmother, to say, Id rather stay with Grandma. I wont beg to stay. I wont cry.
I just want peace. No criticism, no battles for space in this house. I want my child to grow up with love and harmony, not in constant conflict. Maybe thats the only way to save my family without losing myself.